UNITED NATIONS,
November 27 – How far will UN
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres go to promote himself
on the public dime? Weeks ago
Inner City Press asked Guterres'
spokesman Stephane Dujarric to
confirm what it knew: that
Guterres used UN money, food
and printing resources to
lunch with Gillian Tett of the
Financial Times. Dujarric
called all of Guterres' lunches
"private." When the interview
belatedly came out, with no
mention of Guterres and his
Deputy's involvement in
corruption scandals, it led
with Guterres complaining
about the quality of his
private chef and wine cellar.
Even UN supporters told Inner
City Press it was distasteful.
The interview, tellingly, had
little Africa where Guterres
took 42-year ruler Paul Biya's
golden statue; he said he is
not a professional tweeter. So
who is sending that pablum
out? And why did the FT go so
soft? We'll have more on this.
On November 20, the US
Attorney for the Southern
District of New York issued an
indictment against former
Senegal foreign minister
Cheikh Gadio as well as
against the head of the UN
ECOSOC accredited China Energy
Fund Committee Patrick Ho, who
is accused of bribing former
UN President of the General
Assembly Sam Kutesa, now as
then the foreign minister of
Uganda. On November 27, Inner
City Press asked the spokesman
of both UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres - whose DESA
used $1 million from CEFC
after the indictment - and of
President of the General
Assembly Miroslav Lajcak what
has been done at the UN in the
week after the indictment.
Nothing, it seems. Guterres'
spokesman Stephane Dujarric
told Inner City Press that he
did not read in the indictment
anything for the UN to follow
up on, contrary to the UN
audit conducted under
Dujarric's former boss Ban
Ki-moon after the indictment
of Ng Lap Seng. Lajcak
spokesman Brenden Varma told
Inner City Press to contact
ECOSOC and so it has, with
these questions: "Today the
PGA spokesman Brenden Varma
told me I can only asked
ECOSOC. So here are Inner City
Press' questions, on deadline:
What vetting of CEFC was done
before it gained the status is
has with ECOSOC? What have
been CEFC's activities and
appearances with ECOSOC?
Following the indictment of
Patrick Ho and the material in
the indictment, what steps is
the ECOSOC President or other
listed on ESOSOC's contact
page taking? On deadline."
While Inner City Press was
afterward told to also email
one Paul Simon, this bounced
back, slip-sliding away. The
first went through, and ECOSOC
is on notice, like Guterres
and Deputy Amina J. Mohammed.
Watch this site. Gadio's role,
described in the indictment,
was in bribing Chad's long
time president Idriss Deby to
the tune of $2 million. Now
amid calls in Uganda for
Kutesa to resign, see below,
in Chad they have turned out
2,000 to chant in favor of
Deby, channeled by Radio
France International. Some
ask, $2 million divided by
2,000 is how much, minus the
vig? In the U.S. this is
called Astro-turf, an
artificial surface for a
sports stadium, fake
grassroots. Similar moves are
afoot for Gadio. What is the
French connection? We'll have
more on this. Contrary to the
indictment which says Kutesa
stepped down as Foreign
Minister during his year as UN
PGA, Inner City Press asked
him on September 14, 2015 and
Kutesa said, "I am still
foreign minister." Scoop
here, video here.
While the UN of Secretary
General Antonio Guterres, even
after the indictment and Inner
City Press' public questions
went forward on November 21
with CEFC's money, see below,
in Kampala members of
Parliament are calling for
Kutesa to resign as foreign
minister. "President Museveni
and Kutesa should resign and
give Ugandans a chance to
cleanse their country,” Gerald
Karuhanga, Ntungamo
Municipality MP, said. Joining
the call for resignation(s)
are Lwemiyaga
MP Theodore
Ssekikubo, John
Baptist Nambeshe (Manjiya
County), Nabilah Nagayi
(Kampala Woman
Representative), Patrick
Nsamba (Kassanda North),
Monicah Amoding (Kumi
Municality), Barnabas
Tinkasiimire (Buyaga West) and
James Kaberuka (Kinkizi West).
Meanwhile the UN, implicated,
canceled Guterres' photo op
involving the CEFC money but
went forward and used
it, while the event remained
on the schedule
of Guterres' Deputy SG Amina
J. Mohammed, embroiled in a
scandal involving the signing
of 4,000 certificates for rosewood
illegal logged in Cameroon
and Nigeria and already in
China. Ironically, she will be
delivering the "Nelson
Mandela" address. We'll
have more on this. On
Thanksgiving eve November 22
at 4 pm in an otherwise empty
courthouse at 500 Pearl
Street, bail was sought for
Gadio, so he could spend
Thanksgiving in Maryland.
Federal Defender - assigned
counsel - Sabrina Shroff
lambasted the prosecutors for
delaying. She said that unlike
Ng Lap Seng, the billionaire
Macau-based businessman now
still under house arrest
despite six guilty verdicts in
connection with UN bribery,
her client is not a
billionaire. Notably, he has
said he is financially unable
to retain counsel. Judge
Marrero did not set him free
on bail, setting the matter
over for Monday after
Thanksgiving. On the elevator
down the prosecution was
accused of "white
man-splaining;" reference was
made to Daniel Richenthal,
prosecutor in the Ng Lap Seng
trial as well, and to the UN
International School. We'll
have more on this - and
another of Gadio's roles that
brought him to the UN Press
Briefing Room in October 2015,
as "Special Envoy of the
Organization of the Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) for the
Central African Republic." The
UN, increasingly, is corrupt.
It is alleged that Chadian
president Deby took bribes for
oil concessions in Chad, and
that 2014-15 UN President of
the General Assembly Sam
Kutesa took bribes for oil
concessions in Uganda.
Kutesa's predecessor John Ashe
died under indictment; the
depths of the UN's corruption
extend into 2017 with the
signing of dubious rosewood
export certificates in Nigeria
by Secretary General Antonio
Guterres' Deputy Amina J.
Mohammed and set-aside
UN employment for the German
Ambassador's wife, via
Guterres' chief of staff. At
noon on November 21 Inner City
Press asked Guterres spokesman
Farhan Haq about the
indictment and CEFC and its $5
million grant program with UN
DESA, transcript here
and below. Guterres had a 5:45
pm photo op with the "Winners
of the Annual Award of the UN
Grant on Sustainable Energy" -
which seems
to have been funded by China
Energy Fund Committee, under
the heading "Powering
the Future We Want."
He "canceled," photos here,
but his Deputy Amina J.
Mohammed was still listed
giving remarks for / at the
event at 1 pm, though at 5:30
pm those remarks were not on
her website unlike later 2:30
pm remarks. On November 22
Inner City Press asked their
spokesman Farhan Haq, who
argued that the indictment is
only of "Doctor Patrick Ho"
personally, so it was fine to
keep and go forward with
CEFC's money. (He said Amina
J. Mohammed did not speak.)
But Ho founded and chairs
CEFC, here is a photograph of
Ho with UN DESA's former
chief. Apparently things are
more and more lax under
Guterres: even Ng Lap Seng's
Sun Kian Ip Foundation's money
was returned. (Kutesa was also
in the Ng Lap Seng case). Is
the UN more hard up? The
corruption is not past but
current. From the UN's
November 21 noon briefing transcript:
Inner City Press: there was an
indictment yesterday by the US
Attorney for the Southern
District of New York that's
very… I would say… call it UN
related. A company
called China Energy Fund
Committee was… as alleged,
funnelled $500,000 bribes to
Sam Kutesa, former President
of the General Assembly.
The indictment describes the
meetings taking place not… on
this very floor, on the second
floor, setting up these
bribes. And so I have a
couple of questions. One
is… and these were… these…
mentioned in the indictment is
the President of Uganda,
Yoweri Museveni, who is… as
you know, is a mediator on the
Burundi file. So, I
wanted to know, number one,
after this indictment, what is
the UN's office of OIOS
[Office of Internal Oversight
Services] doing to look at
the… the… the UN persons that
may… that… implicated in
it? Two, is China Energy
Fund Committee still affil…
accredited by ECOSOC [Economic
and Social Council]? And
they seem to have a project
with DESA [Department of
Economic and Social Affairs],
a $5 million project with
DESA. And, three, what
does this mean for… for the…
Mr. [Michel] Kafando's and the
Secretary-General's view of
the Museveni role in the
Burundi mediation?
Spokesman: Well,
regarding the question of
Burundi mediation, obviously,
he has a role separate and
apart from the work of our
envoy, Michel Kafando.
You just heard a briefing from
Mr. Kafando yesterday about
what his work is on
that. Regarding Mr.
Kutesa, we don't have anything
particular to say about his
dealings as the Foreign
Minister of Uganda.
Obviously, he has served as a
General Assembly President,
and we want to make sure that
all officials of the UN,
including the General Assembly
President, abide strictly by
norms avoiding corruption and
bribery. Obviously, how
that is enforced is an issue
for the specific Member
States, so we would refer you,
in this case, to the Member
State of Uganda, which is
responsible for Mr.
Kutesa. And regarding
the CEFC that you just
mentioned, yes, they have
accreditation at ECOSOC.
We're checking with our
colleagues in the Department
of Economic and Social Affairs
about the nature of their
projects and what the status
of that is. Inner City Press:
There's a $5 million project
that's online, which I guess…
what I'm saying is, coming
after the Ng Lap Seng/John
Ashe case, it seems some sort
of consonant with it.
Basically, you have a big NGO
[non-governmental
organization] using UN access
to purchase a… if the
allegations are true, a PGA
[President of the General
Assembly]. And so, I
guess I'm wondering, from the
UN side, beyond referring to
the Ugandan mission or
whatever else, are there any
reflections, number one, on
how this process… what due
diligence did DESA do before…
before linking up with this
NGO that's clearly a
subsidiary of a Chinese oil
company that was paying bribes
in Chad, as well?
Spokesman: "Well, the
information about them paying
bribes is something that's
come out today. The
ECOSOC accreditation came out
sometime prior to all of
this. So, that's a
separate issue.
Regarding the sort of probity
we expect from officials,
including General Assembly
presidents, of course, we know
that they belong to Member
States, but we want them to
uphold the high
standards. This is
something we made clear during
John Ashe's time. This
is something we're making
clear now. And, of
course, I believe my colleague
Brenden will have more to say
about the presidency of the
General Assembly regarding
this. But, again, these
are issues that the Member
States themselves will need to
take responsibility for.
These are officials of Member
States. These are not
staff of the United Nations. "
The Kutesa scam began in long
meetings in the UN PGA's
office on the UN's second
floor - where the UN now
requires investigative Inner
City Press to have a minder,
unlike other correspondents -
between Kutesa and China-based
NGO China Energy Fund
Committee led by Patrick C.P.
Ho. The scheme involved Kutesa
naming Ho a "Special Adviser
to the PGA," and hosting an
NGO meeting in the UN in April
2015. Kutesa traveled as PGA
to China as part of the
scheme. Ho's approach was
through Kutesa's chief of
staff Arthur Kafeero, whom as
Inner City Press exclusively
reported in August 2015 Kutesa
tried to plant in the UN's
Department of Political
Affairs. See Inner City Press
scoop here;
note that the UN evicted Inner
City Press for its corruption
coverage in early 2016 and has
kept it restricted since, even
as UN corruption continues,
even grows. And what do the
member states do? On November
20 Inner City Press asked UK
Permanent Representative
Matthew Rycroft about the
scandal and he said, "I'll
look into that and get back to
you." Video here.
Update (no comment, cite to
SDGs, here).
From the US Attorney: "HO
caused a $500,000 bribe to be
paid, via wires transmitted
through New York, New York, to
an account designated by the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Uganda, who had recently
completed his term as the
President of the UN General
Assembly (the “Ugandan Foreign
Minister”). HO also
provided the Ugandan Foreign
Minister, as well as the
President of Uganda, with
gifts and promises of future
benefits, including offering
to share the profits of a
potential joint venture in
Uganda involving the Energy
Company and businesses owned
by the families of the Ugandan
Foreign Minister and the
President of Uganda.
These payments and promises
were made in exchange for
assistance from the Ugandan
Foreign Minister in obtaining
business advantages for the
Energy Company, including the
potential acquisition of a
Ugandan bank." We'll have more
on this. Sam
Kutesa had offshore
accounts in the Seychelles, to
receive funds from Enhas, a
company of which despite the
UN denying
it to Inner City Press is
listed as doing business with
the UN's mission in the Congo,
MONUSCO. The accounts, but not
the UN / MONUSCO connection,
have been revealed
the leaked Appleby / Paradise
Papers. Inner City Press on
November 7 asked the spokesman
for the President of the
General Assembly about it,
yielding only an answer that
the current PGA is striving to
make public his disclosure
form but will not speak to
former (or clearly, past)
PGAs. Video here.
But how then can the UN be
said to have cleaned up after
PGA John Ashe, RIP, was
indicted for bribery? We'll
have more on this. For now,
this: it is telling that the
new pro-UN book "A Worldly
Affair," though copyrighted
2017, does not even mention
the 2016 UN bribery scandal of
former President of the
General Assembly John Ashe,
much less now convicted briber
Ng Lap Seng. It does however
praise Antonio Guterres, who
came in as Secretary General
in 2017, and acknowledge Maher
Nasser, who moderated an event
promoting the book, and
shouting down the Press which
asked about Ashe and Ng. Haiti
is mentioned in connection
with Brooklyn - diplomats
living there, and "Albanians
in The Bronx." It is an
essentially elitist book, with
a sidebar o the UN's mansion
at 3 Sutton Place, bought in
1972 for Kurt Waldheim and
renovated at a cost of $4.5
million for Ban Ki-moon. It
derides the cheap construction
of Uganda House, and laughs at
the penthouse in Libya House
shown by Ali "Treiki." For
weeks the UN promoted its book
event featuring author Pamela
Hanlon.

But when Inner
City Press went and asked
about the UN having brought
cholera to Haiti and paid
nothing, and whether Haitians
in Brooklyn had been able to
get any accountability from
the UN, there was no answer.

A heckler in the
audience said loudly that the
question was not appropriate.
Video here.
So Inner City Press followed
up on Ms. Hanlon's statement
that the land under the UN is
still US territory. If so,
what of John Ashe selling
diplomatic posts from inside
his UN General Assembly
President's office, and Inner
City Press for covering the
scandal being thrown out onto
First Avenue by eight UN
Security officers? Audio here.
(NYPD told Inner City Press it
has no jurisdiction to take
criminal complaints, even for
assault, for anything east of
the First Avenue curb.)

That question wasn't answered,
either, including by Penny
Abeywardena, Commissioner of
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Office
for International Affairs.

Instead Maher
Nasser, in charge of the UN
Department of Public
Information for months this
year said “it's always about
you” and ended the event,
encouraging those present to
buy books for signing. Then on
October 20, Nasser brought
about a Kafka-esque threeat to
Inner City Press'
accreditation. And so it goes
at the UN.